A Woman's Worth
by amburnikole
Summary: Its the end of the 7th year and many things have transpired..including a pair falling in love...and CH 2 UPLOADED!!!1-17-02 I edited ch2 and changed carus to cara. (Cara is the femenine form of beloved in latin. My mistake guys!!)
1. The Beginning..or is it?

A Woman's Worth 

Title and the song belongs to the Highly talented Alicia Keys. All characters belong to J.K. Rowlings. Im just borrowing them for a while.   


He looked up from his desk for a moment to gaze at his class and let himself remeniss about the last 7 years. There had been many troubled times laid in front of these students and they had done wonderfully. He even let himself offer a bit of praise towards Harry Potter from time to time. They had all come a long way from the sniveling little brats of first year. Now as Seventh years they seemed more mature and he didnt find them as annoying. He was acutally quite fond of most of them. THe only thing that still troubled him was that the Dark Lord was yet to be out of their lives forever. He looked over at his Slytherins and found them fervently working on their potions. Gone was their mischeif and with the Death of Malfoy's father in a battle between the deatheaters and himself and some of the other students and faculty, Draco was a diffrent person. He was no longer a snide little boy with care for no one but himself. In fact his grades had risen dramatically and,if he had been observing correct, he was getting rather close to a certain Weasly girl. His gaze travelled from the Slytherins to the Gryffindors and settled on Neville Longbottom. He chuckled a little to himself. He remembered the exact day Neville ceased to be a blundering idiot. He had finally pushed Neville too far and he stood up to him. He had verbally reprimanded him in front of the class, but in a rare act he had praised Neville after class for his bravery and from then on Neville ceased to be scared of him and was able to keep from melting his cauldron and no longer needed Hermione Granger's help to get him out of messes.Hermione Granger. His eyes fell on the Head Girl of Gryffindor with her now long, tame, and smooth locks of golden brown hair. She had grown so much from the little girl she started out as. She was at the top of her class in everything, _always._ She was taller now and had grown into a well proportioned woman. True she was already 18, since she was a year older than all her classmates due to some circumstances that were not revealed to him, and her maturity showed through in her work. She would graduate at 19, unlike her peers. But then, she had always been diffrent from them. Her nose was constantly in a book and he had come to see how much she loved brewing her potions and the careful precision in which she measured her ingredients. He averted his eyes from her as she looked up at him from her desk. When he noticed she had looked back at her potion he regarded her again. Her peers still didnt appreciate her or her talents. They still thought she was a book worm and they didnt deserve her. Especially Weasley who only oggled her and teased her of her beauty. But he didnt appreciate her mind or her heart. Potter seemed to understand a little but Potters interests seemed somewhere else, usually a tall Ravenclaw. So this beautiful, talented, smart, wonderful girl-no woman was all alone in her world. She didn't seem to bother with Weasley that much besides their friendship, and with her relationship with that Krum fellow crumbled and broken she truly was all by herself. He wondered if she realized how much she was worth. He found out that she would be a professor at Hogwarts when she came back from two years at College. Professor of muggle studies. They would be collegues then. He looked away from her again as she glanced up at him. He wondered what it would be like just to hold her once, to tell her that he appreciated her, understood her, knew her as well as he knew himself. She was very like him in her passion for learning and school. He fathomed if it was possible he could love her, but knew it was a false possibility because she could never love him in return.   
With a glance at the clock he stood up.   
"Class dismissed."he spoke and the students began to put their cauldrons away and pack their things and leave. All but Hermione Granger had left. He looked up to find her there, surprise apparent on his face.   
"May I help you Ms Granger?"   
She looked down for a moment but brought her head back up.   
"Will you be at the Graduation Dance Professor?"   
"Yes I will. May I ask why you wish to know?"   
She took in a deep breath as if to steady herself.   
"I wondered, if it wouldnt be too impropoer of course,if you would save a dance for me?"she asked.   
He looked at her in shock and silence.   
She took the silence as a no and picked up her things and turned to leave.   
"Yes Ms Granger."he blurted out.   
She turned to him and smiled quickly.   
"ok, Ill see you then."   
With that she quickly turned and left, her robes flowing behind her.   
He let himself sink into his chair.   
She wants to dance with me. Probably just being nice, he thought.   
But something inside him hoped not. 

The Graduation dance was the last get together the 7th years would have. Their graduation followed the next day. Only the 7th years were allowed to attend the dance and it was beautiful. The theme was A Magical Evening. Everyone was dressed up in Wizards robes or fancy dresses with Faerie-like designs. Snape sat at the Teachers table at his usual spot in his long black velvet dress robes. They all seemed to be having the time of their lives. He didnt usually dance so he sat there the whole time, simply observing. But, he was in good spirits this night so when he saw a few couples sneak off he didnt have the heart to stop them. He was so engorged in his thoughts he didnt notice someone step up behind him. He was started by a whisper in his ear.   
"Care to dance?"   
He turned and had to keep himself from gasping.   
Hermione looked absolutely beautiful.   
She wore a long deep crimson dress in a medieval princess style with golden strands woven into it with her hair atop her head in curls with ringlets falling around her face and neck. Her face was beautifully done with glitter and shimmer.   
At first he couldnt say anything and she chuckled.   
"Ill take that as a yes then."she said grabbing his hand and pulling him up out of his chair. He followed her without protest to the floor, ignoring the stares of some for the moment.   
When he found his voice he voiced his concern. 

_**You could buy me diamonds, you could buy me pearls_   
_Take me on a cruise around the world_   
_Baby you know I'm worth it**_

"Do you think this wise?"he whispered to her as she pulled his arm around her and placed her left hand around his neck and her right in his left hand.   
"Why not? Its just a good student asking one of her favorite teachers to dance since its one of the last times she'll be seeing him in a while. There's no reason it should be wrong should it?" 

_**Dinner lit by candles, run my bubble bath_   
_Make love tenderly to last and last_   
_Baby you know I'm worth it**_

He looked at her for a moment as if searching for something.   
"I suppose not."   
"Good."   
They stopped talking then and just danced. He didnt dare pull her any closer to him, just in case anyone got any ideas. But he wanted to. He wanted to run his hands through her hair, crush her against him. But he didnt. 

_**Wanna please wanna keep wanna treat your woman right_   
_Not just told but to show that you know she is worth your time_   
_You will lose if you choose to refuse to put her first_   
_She will if she can't find a man who knows her worth, mhmn_

_Cuz a real man knows a real woman when he sees her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man ain't afraid to please her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man always comes first_   
_And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth**_

Suddenly she looked at him and held his gaze.   
As if they had never stopped talking about it she spoke in a hushed whisper.   
"Its not like we want it to be something innapropriate."   
He looked at her masking his surprise. What was she playing at?   
"Exactly."he replied not knowing quite how to respond. 

_**If you treat me fairly I'll give you all my goods_   
_Treat you like a real woman should_   
_Baby I know you're worth it**_

_"_And its not as if I wanted to do something innapropriate.I am still Head Girl after all." 

_**If you never play me, promise not to bluff_   
_I'll hold you down when stuff gets rough_   
_Baby I know you're worth it**_

Before he could respond she continued.   
"What kind of example would I be setting for the years under me then?"   
He began to get nervous. Was this going where he thought it was?   
"Not a good one, I should think."   
She laughed then. Silence followed. 

_**She walks the mile makes you smile all the while being true_   
_Don't take for granted the passion that she has for you_   
_You will lose if you choose to refuse to put her first_   
_She will if she can't find a man who knows her worth, oh_

_Cuz a real man knows a real woman when he sees her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man ain't afraid to please her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man always comes first_   
_And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth**_

He suddenly recieved a burst of courage from he didnt know where.   
"Just think of it. The perfect Hermione Granger acting innapropriately, its would be scandelous."   
It was her turn to be surprised.   
"Ah yes, but think of the seemingly always stickler for rules potions master acting innapropriately, it would be just as scandelous."she said with a glint of something in her eyes. 

_**No need to read between the lines, spell it out for you_   
_Just hear this song cuz you can't go wrong when you value_   
_A woman, woman, woman, a woman's worth**_

"Who would think that you, Hermione, would ever be interested in such a scandal?"   
He realized he used her first name and so did she.   
She smiled seductivly.   
"Well Severus,"she let his name roll off her tounge,"I would think that after all of the time you've spent watching me that you would have learned that I cant resist getting involved in scandelous mischief."   
She of course was talking about all of the times she helped Ron and Harry in their adventures.   
But she was also talking about something else. 

_**Cuz a real man knows a real woman when he sees her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man ain't afraid to please her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man always comes first_   
_And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth_

_Cuz a real man knows a real woman when he sees her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man ain't afraid to please her_   
_And a real woman knows a real man always comes first_   
_And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth_

_Mhmn mhmn mhmn mhmn mhmn mhmn….**_   


As the song ended they let go of each other, their eyes remained locked.   
They walked back to the empty teachers table and he sat in his place and she sat a few chairs away from him.   
She muttered something under her breath and then began to whisper. Snape found he could hear her clearly in his ears only.   
"If the offer ever presented itself, would you ever partake in such a scandal professor?"   
She looked over at him for a second so he could she the look in her eyes.   
He muttered the same charm and she found she could hear his whispers now.   
"Would you?"   
There was silence for a moment and Hermione began to get up. For a moment he thought she had just been toying with him but he soon heard her voice in his ears again.   
"I think I'm going to go the potions classroom and brew a final potion before leaving. I would like your assistance, for I think it might be a bit complicated."   
With that she said no more and left.   
Snape sat there for a few minutes more as to not draw attention to himself before telling Albus he was retiring for the evening.   
"Goonight Severus. Big day tomorrow."   
"Definately Headmaster. Goodnight." 

He headed quitely to the potions classroom in his dungeons. He found Hermione there brewing something.   
She turned to him.   
The tension was almost tangible in the air.   
"Whats this?"he questioned, motioning towards the cauldron.   
She moved to where she was mere inches from him.   
"Just in case anyone is stupid enough to come down here and question whether I made a potion or not"she spoke out before she quickly covered his mouth with hers. Hers arms went around him and his hands instinctively went into her hair pulling her closer.   
"I wanted to hold you like this at the dance"he breathed.   
"I wanted you to as well.."she replied between kisses.   
"My chamber?"he questioned and she nodded. He lifted her in his arms while carrying her into his office where he opened the secret passage to his quarters.   
  
He laid her there on the bed with her hair sprawled out in a fan-like fashion.   
He was bent over her and she pulled him down to her for a deep kiss. She traced his face with her fingertips.   
"There is so much I want to tell you hermione. I see them. I see how they dont understand you, dont appreciate you. Oh but I do."he cupped her face in his hands.   
"Looking in your eyes is like a mirror to my soul.I love the way you are, the way you look, I love your mind, your intellect, your talents. You are worth so much. I would always put you first-"   
She silenced him with a kiss.   
"I know."   
SHe looked at him then, lovingly.   
"I think I love you Hermione Granger. But you're going to leave tomorrow and be gone."   
"Shh....I think I love you too. You are so striking, so handsome. Your passion for your work impresses me so much. I love your devotion to your work, to learning. I will be back and I know Ill think of you every day Im gone. And when Im back, Ill be back for good."   
"I will miss you."   
"Ill miss you too and Ill write you all the time. You wont be rid of me yet, Professor Snape."   
"I like it better when you call me Severus."he breathed huskily in her ear.   
She blushed a little and reached to pull him to her. They lay there lying in each others arms, kissing and caressing until they fell asleep. 

TBC..........   



	2. Cara(Beloved in Latin)

Severus awoke with a start. He instantly threw his arm to the other side of the bed, but only felt cold emptiness. 

*It was a dream!* he realized.

  


Hermione awoke in a dazed fever. She quickly checked her surroundings and recognized the familiar surroundings of her Head Girl's quarters. 

*What a dream* she thought. She shook herself, seeing it was already 8:00 in the morning,and headed quickly to the prefects bath. 

As she let herself soak in the warm bubble bath she let herself drift back to her dream and that wonderful song that had played in it. She had to admit it was lovely, but he would never act that way and neither would she. Would she? No. Of course not. She was head girl after all, no matter how she had come to realize she felt about a certain Potions master. She put her hand on her cheek where she swore his hand had been. 

*It was a DREAM Hermione. Get over it!*

Yes. That's it. Tonight they would dance and That's all. 

  


Severus let the cold water pour down his back as he leaned against the wall in thought. He let his mind wander over the events in his dream. She would never act in that manner towards him. She couldn't possibly feel that way about him either. 

*This is pointless! Why am I even worrying about it! It was a dream, nothing more. We're going to dance as she requested* 

why I don't know, a little voice reminded him 

*but we're going to dance and then That's it! She's going to graduate the next day and leave.*

  
  


All too soon it seemed, the dance came. Hermione was a ball of nerves. She of course let herself dance with Ron and Harry, Neville, and even Draco. But soon the dance was nearing its end and she looked over at Snape's seat at the teachers table. She had felt his eyes on her all night. 

*You should just get it over with.*she told herself. She saw him begin to rise from his seat and look at her. The look seemed to pierce through her and she swore she saw something more than his normal sneer there. She would have bet her highest NEWT scores that it looked almost like compassion. But it couldn't be, could it? As he began to descend from the teachers area, she began to get more nervous and to panic. How did she feel? Really and truly? She didn't know, yet something told her she knew that was a lie. But was she ready to face it just yet?

She had only a few moments to figure it out and just before he was going to make his way over to her, she bolted from the hall and went straight to her room without stopping. She couldn't do it. She couldn't do it because she didn't trust herself to. She was afraid it would end up like the dream. Granted she would like it to end up that way, but something said it was too soon and somehow she didn't think she was ready for it. She sighed and laid on her bed, suddenly hitting herself hard. 

*What about Snape? He's going to feel so rejected!* What could she do? She had to find some way to tell him how she felt, yet not really. She hoped he would understand, even if she didn't fully just yet. She quickly drew out her quill and parchment and scribbled a small note. She didn't sign it because she knew he would recognize her handwriting. She then attached it to Crookshanks and sent him off to the dungeons.

Crookshanks meowed loudly at the door to Snape's classroom. Soon a very frustrated Snape came to the door.

"What IS it?!"he exclaimed.

Crookshanks rubbed against Snape's legs so the parchment would catch on the fabric.

Snape bent down to pluck it out of the collar before stroking the cat briefly and sending him back on his way.

  


He took the parchment to his desk and sat, carefully unrolling it. He recognized the handwriting instantly.

  


Sighing heavily he began to read:

  


"I'm sorry.

  
  


I don't know what to say or how to say it. You are and always will be the brilliant Severus Snape to me. No, not the brilliant potions master at Hogwarts, but the brilliant you as a person. You are the most complex person and yet I think out of all the professors here I understand you the most. 

nunquam oblivio mihi"

  


He carefully rolled up the parchment again and put it in his robes. He then steepled his hands and let his hand rest on them. 

*what a complex woman.* he thought.

*I wonder what made her leave.*

He had to admit a little twinge of rejection, but her swift action to resolve her earlier actions led him to believe she never wanted to hurt him. In fact her words melted him. She saw him as the person and not just the evil potions master. She thought she understood him best. He knew he understood her better than he friends did, that was for sure. Something inside him told him this letter was meant as hope. Especially the last line. That did give him hope for some day. 

  


The next afternoon he watched as she graduated and hugged all of her friends. She hugged each of her professors, and hugged Dumbledore a little longer than most. When she got to Snape she smiled a little nervously. He took the initiative and gathered her in his arms. Because of shock, it took a moment for Hermione to put her arms around Snape as well. Before they pulled apart he whispered in her ear.

"Nunquam Mei Cara".

She turned her face sharply to meet his eyes and fought back the tears that were forming. She opened her mouth to say something but he placed a finger on her lips to quiet her and shook his head. She quickly and gently pecked his fingertip before running off to leave with her friends.

  


Severus sighed and placed the finger against his lips for a moment, playing it as if he were contemplating something. But a quick glace at Dumbledore and his knowing smile let him know he wasn't the only one who knew now. 

2 years, he thought. 2 long years.

Ok....latin translations here:

  


nunquam oblivio mihi= never forget me

  


nunquam Mei cara= never my beloved


End file.
